Four Days with Mr. Gorgeous

I've been quite busy as of late because I've been walking my handsome collie buddy, Mr. Gorgeous (not his real name, but it could be!), on weekday afternoons. It's always fun to be out and about with such a good-looking fellow and I've taken my camera along on our excursions to various parks. The following is a visual summary of our time together.

Friday

Mr. Gorgeous' long collie muzzle.

He looks particularly majestic when lit by the amber light of the setting sun.

On Friday the magnificent Mr. Gorgeous and I went to Juanita Bay park. It's a very pretty park with broad lawns studded with willows and boardwalks that cross wetlands and lead to viewing platforms overlooking the bay. There are always lots of cool birds to be seen and on this particular trip we were treated to the sight of a flock of trumpeter swans that are wintering on the bay. Mr. Gorgeous is not particularly interested in wildlife or scenery, but he does like the many dogs and their walkers that can be found at the park!

I find the image of a walkway overarched with willows to be particularly romantic!

Sunlit winter cattails.

The weathered remains of several old docks and other structures jut from the bay's waters.

A pretty pink winter-blooming viburnum provided welcome color!

Monday

Collie on the move!

Mr. Gorgeous and a furry friend.

On Monday, Mr. Gorgeous and I stayed close to home. I had noticed some witch hazels in bloom up the street from his house, so we took a tour of the local landscaping (of which there is a great deal!) and then stopped by the neighborhood park. Back at the house, Mr. Gorgeous received a visit from a friend of his, a nice white Westie.

A bush full of small red berries.

Yellow witch hazel.

Pampas grass plume, which just so happens to look a lot like Mr. Gorgeous' tail!

Emerging buds.

Tuesday

Having a great romp with a new buddy.

Mr. Gorgeous was all smiles!

Tuesday's excursion was a trip to another nearby park. I didn't have a lot of extra time because I had an appointment later in the afternoon, making that particular park a convenient place to walk, but I also chose the park because I noticed hellebores starting to bloom in one of the yards we passed on our walk the day before and I knew that there were some easily-accessible beds with hellebores at the park! I got the flower photos that I wanted and Mr. Gorgeous ended up getting a chance to play off-leash with a Australian Shepherd. Mr. Gorgeous is not always very playful, but the two of them really hit it off! On the way back to his house, I spotted the park's resident bald eagles sitting together in a tree and snapped a photo. I also took one of the view of the mountains from the top of Mr. Gorgeous' driveway.

White hellebore.

Red-orange witch hazel.

Bald eagles.

Olympic Mountains, as seen framed by the trees at Mr. Gorgeous' house.

Wednesday

Exploring the dog park.

Mr. Gorgeous decided during his visit to the flower shop that the best place to take a load
off was near the dog biscuits (the box is just visible on the right), which are kept handy
by one of the designers in case a pooch happens to stop by!

He's so big that he fills the backseat of my car almost entirely!

 After several days of sunshine and unusually warm weather, the weather turned cool and drizzly once again on Wednesday. I decided that it was still worth visiting my city's brand new off-leash dog park. There weren't many dogs there, but Mr. Gorgeous had a good time sniffing everything and saying hi to everyone. A really fun dog who got all the dogs playing showed up right as Mr. Gorgeous and I were leaving, but we didn't stick around because we had another item on our agenda: visiting my old work, Fena Flowers! They were busy bringing in the flowers for Valentine's Day, but not so busy that they couldn't make a fuss over Mr. Gorgeous (which is his favorite thing anyway) and chat with me. I also took some more flower photos (some of photos from a previous visit can be viewed here).

Tulips.

A green and yellow cymbidium orchid.

A white and pink phalaenopsis orchid.

Lavender roses.

It added up to a very busy four days! We visited four parks, walked more than a mile every day, and I snapped more than three hundred photos! It should be no surprise that I am quite worn out now, but it was a great break in my routine to spend part of my day out and about with good ol' Mr. Gorgeous!

You can see more of the photos I took on my walks with Mr. Gorgeous in this album.

More photos taken at the flower shop can be viewed here.

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